Transphobia

Imagine you are sitting in the front pew of the family church, you decided to wear a dress that was normally reserved for school, your mom hesitated before letting you walk out the door but mostly because you were already late, but you are sitting in the front pew and one of the female deacons comes by and places a sheet over your already crossed legs. You smile politely but wonder what’s up with that, you weren’t wearing anything to revealing, yet fault still seemed to be put on you for the…

bubble where I’m surrounded by everything agy because of this. However I have found this analogy to be pretty true. Now that I am surrounded by those who accept me, a large part of my life is contained in this “Bubble” where many things such as transphobia or gender roles don’t have the same effect. However, when I leave the area or go back home this bubble is temporarily punctured by the awkward questioning and misgendering from others. This “Bubble” concept has also existed for me in other…

lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and their allies. However, members of the LGBT community have criticized the narrow focus on marriage equality, arguing it sidesteps other urgent community issues like racism, class conflicts, transphobia, youth homelessness, and others (Spade and Willse 2013; Duggan 2012a; Warner 1999). Moreover, LGBT activists and scholars, some of whom are black, have argued that the legalization of same-sex marriage disproportionately benefits a…

Gender studies has introduced me to many new concepts in feminism, particularly the idea of intersectionality. Intersectionality, as I understand it, is the structural phenomenon of the interconnection of oppression and privileges experienced by individuals or groups. This notion that all oppressions are connected to one another never registered with me until it was introduced in this course. I always assumed inequalities such as feminism and racism to be separate issues that involved separate…

Imitation and Transformation On a regular weekday, I was in class listening to a group of women presenting on some topic I couldn’t recall. After their presentation, the instructor, also a woman, told the presenters to stop “uptalking” in the future because their speech pattern can make them sound high-pitched, unconfident, and unprofessional. The class, including myself, silently accepted the instructor’s advice; however, I thought the instructor was trying to tell presenters that they need to…

I am nonbinary. By definition, nonbinary is an umbrella term to describe any gender that is not strictly 100% girl or 100% boy. It can be abbreviated to “NB” or “enby”. It is used by people who are partially woman or man as well as nonbinary, hence the term “nonbinary woman” or “nonbinary man”. A person can also be nonbinary in addition to being completely woman or completely man, hence “nonbinary and woman”, etcetera. Agender (meaning being genderless or having no gender) people also fall under…

to live life and blend in as a male. Provides a clear picture of the sociological factors that affect the lives of transgender individuals and the reality of what could possibly result from others finding out about them. It shows the reality of transphobia and violence against transgender individuals. In the end, it shows us the tragic end of Brandon Teena’s life after having been raped by Tom Nissen and John Lotter on Christmas Eve and then murdered on New Year’s Eve to silence him. The…

Sophia, a transgender woman in prison. Sophia is a representation of transgender people who are discriminated because of their gender identity. The show narrates that, while she is allowed to be confined in a women’s prison, she is still a victim of transphobia as shown by her ostracism and her being deprived of her hormonal dosages (Reddy 9). Through the character of Sophia, the show reflects the real issues and problems that beset transgender…

problems, the film “Boys Don’t Cry” opens a dialogue regarding gender identity, especially for the non-queer audience and challenges hetero-normative ideas of gender and sexuality. Furthermore, it also serves as a counter balance to some of the transphobia presented in the media…

Transgender people are so hated in our society that bills have been proposed saying that any person of “questionable gender” should be forced to flash their genitalia before entering a public restroom; that is absolutely ridiculous, not to mention borderline sexual assault (Chicago Tribune). There is absolutely no reason for you to look at someone (especially a stranger!) and feel the urge to ask them what their genitals look like. Everyone goes to the bathroom for the same thing-to go to the…